Ok, don't everyone laugh at me if this is common ... I don't get out much ...
I was at a film festival last night where they used a projector to play standard definition DVDs on the big screen ...
(I'm an avid kayaker and the festival was hosted by the Neuse River Foundation which I try to support)
The quality was rather good, although the projector wasn't as bright as it could have been. One movie, in particular made excellent use of sound. It was a wildlife video, and a lot of it was shot on strategically placed, low quality, operator free cameras. However, with good editing and excellent use of audio, the audience thoroughly enjoyed the short movie. There were environmental videos, and an extreme kayaking video. Only one video "The Killers of Eden" appeared to be a "biggish" budget movie.
In any case, the movies varied in their production quality, but the low resolution source did not seem to be a big detractor. If the projector had been brighter and the screen better quality, they would have appeared even better. Not once in the entire 2 hours did I say to myself, "this story would have been better if they had shot this on film, or in HD, and projected it with better quality". The storytellers did a great job, even with black and white lipstick cameras.
If you can tell your story well enough that a tech-head like myself isn't going to notice the technical limitations of the medium, even when it's 720x480 resolution, it seems to me that most of these format discussions are really just a matter of taste and budget. What really matters, and I know I'm not the first one to say this, is production quality (audio, lighting, camera support, acting, etc.) and of course, having a compelling subject or story to tell.
For those of us who are moving up from mini-DV, obviously shooting HD/HDV and releasing on HD DVDs (Blu Ray or HDDVD) has the potential to project a much improved image on the big screen, once the little theaters catch up. I'm sort of excited, because the opportunities are endless, whether you're shooting in SD or HD/HDV.
(I only go to an occasional film festival ... it had been years since I attended my last film festival ... so be kind if these observations are naive. I admit, I'm a newbie in this area.)
I was at a film festival last night where they used a projector to play standard definition DVDs on the big screen ...
(I'm an avid kayaker and the festival was hosted by the Neuse River Foundation which I try to support)
The quality was rather good, although the projector wasn't as bright as it could have been. One movie, in particular made excellent use of sound. It was a wildlife video, and a lot of it was shot on strategically placed, low quality, operator free cameras. However, with good editing and excellent use of audio, the audience thoroughly enjoyed the short movie. There were environmental videos, and an extreme kayaking video. Only one video "The Killers of Eden" appeared to be a "biggish" budget movie.
In any case, the movies varied in their production quality, but the low resolution source did not seem to be a big detractor. If the projector had been brighter and the screen better quality, they would have appeared even better. Not once in the entire 2 hours did I say to myself, "this story would have been better if they had shot this on film, or in HD, and projected it with better quality". The storytellers did a great job, even with black and white lipstick cameras.
If you can tell your story well enough that a tech-head like myself isn't going to notice the technical limitations of the medium, even when it's 720x480 resolution, it seems to me that most of these format discussions are really just a matter of taste and budget. What really matters, and I know I'm not the first one to say this, is production quality (audio, lighting, camera support, acting, etc.) and of course, having a compelling subject or story to tell.
For those of us who are moving up from mini-DV, obviously shooting HD/HDV and releasing on HD DVDs (Blu Ray or HDDVD) has the potential to project a much improved image on the big screen, once the little theaters catch up. I'm sort of excited, because the opportunities are endless, whether you're shooting in SD or HD/HDV.
(I only go to an occasional film festival ... it had been years since I attended my last film festival ... so be kind if these observations are naive. I admit, I'm a newbie in this area.)